Or even if you’re just plain busy, as I’ve been the last couple of weeks. In short, since I last wrote, I’ve:

taken another jog along the beach at Waikiki

bought Hawaiian shirts in what I’ve been told is Definitely the Wrong Color (but that’s OK; I have the receipt and I’m going back in May!)

flown to the lovely IBM Learning Center in Armonk, New York, where they close the gym and breakfast room too early for someone who’s just come in from the West Coast and doesn’t have a morning meeting

spent a day-and-a-half at our team planning meeting in an old barn in New Fairfield, Connecticut

driven to Richmond, Virginia

set up my Mom’s “new” computer

reconnected my brother’s TV, VCR, DVD, and TiVo (because I could, not because he necessarily needed it done!)

flown home on amazingly empty planes

gotten a brand new IBM ThinkPad T23, which came preloaded with a customized Windows 2000 setup

reformatted the hard drive on the new ThinkPad and installed Windows XP because I don’t like the internal customizations

discovered that I should have backed up some of the software provided by the internal customizers before reformatting

attended a talk by IBM’s Senior VP for Strategy (Bruce Harreld) which made me much happier about the company’s plans and prospects

reviewed more papers for WWW2002

picked up our new Prius (I even got to drive it!)

sold our old Camry (life would have been easier if I’d remembered to bring the title along to the dealership)

and found where the cleaning service put Jeffrey’s birthday cards (and the enclosed checks).

Tomorrow is Jeffrey’s birthday. For a change, we’re having the party on his birthday instead of weeks later — so we’ll be busy tomorrow.

And on Sunday, I fly East again for an e-tirement party for my old boss and my group’s annual kickoff meeting. The weather was pleasantly warm there last week — I’m hoping for a replay. It’s certainly been cold here!